


It is the Little Things in Life That Matter Most

by gouguruheddo



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Birthday, Canon Compliant, Christmas, Domestic, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 05:43:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13183557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gouguruheddo/pseuds/gouguruheddo
Summary: Levi doesn't like attention, especially if it involved material gifts. The only thing he wants is a warm lap and sweet lips.





	It is the Little Things in Life That Matter Most

**Author's Note:**

> For cinnamintae for the Eruri Secret Santa Exchange. <3

The first present appears without much celebration. It sits at the corner of Erwin’s desk unmolested, its wrapping neat and bright. The next one is odd, a bit larger, the wrapping a little untidy, but its effort made clear. It’s when the courier brings in the tenth gift that Levi bothers to check the tags. **  
**

“They’re for you.” Erwin says, his finger marking his place in the book on his lap. His other hand is at his mouth, his index finger covering the smile on his lips.

“I see that.” Levi glares back at him. “Is this your doing?”

Erwin shakes his head with a soft laugh. He shifts in his seat and crosses his leg over the other. “No, no. Even I know not to do something so cruel to you.” He turns a page in his book. “Well, not all of it, anyway.”

Levi rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna kill whoever did this.”

Erwin brings four fingers up with a lopsided grin and laughs when Levi growls deep out of his throat like a bear waking from hibernation. Levi doesn’t even offer his common courtesy of slamming the door behind him as he leaves.

The presents keep piling up through the day. Many are sent anonymously. Some of the gifters are obvious based on their contents. Others are marked neatly and with a note of sensible pride. Levi peeks his head into the office on occasion as the stack turns into a pile and then into an avalanche of appreciation. He stands at the door frame, his fingers flexing into fists and his hips shifting from side to side. The bones in his neck crack as he rolls his head along his shoulders.

Erwin comes up from behind him and places a hand on his shoulder. He reaches around and holds a box wrapped in green paper laced with a silken red bow. Levi brings his hands up to catch it as Erwin lets it go. With a soft and quick kiss to the top of Levi’s head, Erwin squeezes his hand and drops it down to his side. “Happy birthday, Levi.”

Levi clutches the cube in his hands and shakes his head. He looks back up at the unsightly abundance of gifts piled around Erwin’s desk–cakes and books and cleaning supplies. Alcohol and baskets of berries and vegetables surrounded by wrapped boxes much like the one in his hands. He huffs and turns, bumping into Erwin’s chest before pushing past him and down the hall. Erwin turns to watch him leave before adjusting the hems of his jacket and turning to his office door and locking it.

Erwin makes a few stops before the sun sets, handling his duties until even the torches on the walls seem exhausted. He arrives at Levi’s quarters, his knuckle rapping three times as he tries to balance the tea tray solo in the other hand. He waits patiently for the familiar croak on the other side to signal him inside. Erwin enters carefully, closing the door behind him until the latch catches with a soft click. He stands at the door awaiting a more formal greeting before taking the true invitation to get comfortable.

Levi looks up at him from his chair next to the window. Frost patterns at the corners of the quartered window pane. A wind blows and rattles the wooden frames, and the draft catches Levi quickly into a shudder. He sits staring at the box Erwin had handed him, thick blanket across his shoulders and chin on his knees.

“I brought tea.” Erwin says.

Levi grunts.

Erwin crosses the room and places the tray on the table. He prepares their drinks inside of the mismatched teacups, a pair they had acquired from abandoned towns outside the wall. Tilting his head to catch a glance at Levi’s cautious stare, he can’t help but smile a little as he continues. “Did you open my present, perchance?”

Levi snorts.

“I think you should.” Erwin abandons the tea and walks toward the wardrobe. He opens the door and pulls his jacket off. Continuing through his disrobing, he steals several glances behind him in hopes of catching Levi working through the wrapping of his gift. However, no such thing happens, and he shuffles barefoot across the freezing wood floor and sits on the edge of the single bed. “The tea will grow cold.” Erwin says, but the words are there to keep the room warm–like the tea, and the blanket, and his silent offer of intimacy.

Levi shakes his head and closes his eyes, the blanket shifting up over his head.

“Shall I open it for you?”

“Knock it off.” Levi grumbles. He shifts under his protective barrier and adjusts his position on his chair.

“Was it Hange?”

“Mike.” Levi sighs.

Erwin hums. “How, I wonder?”

“He figured it out last year.” Levi looks up at Erwin, resting a cheek on the side of his knee. “The pastry you got me… The stupid candle you stuck in it.” Levi rolls his eyes. “Among other things.”

“I see.” Erwin quirks a smile. “He is impossible.”

“Hange’s just the mouthpiece to that silent bastard.”

Erwin barks a laugh, a smile lingering on his lips. He reaches toward the table and grabs his present. He plays with it between his hands as he continues. “My father…” Erwin pauses, looks at Levi in silent acceptance before saying more. “Every winter we would go into town and purchase a small pine tree to stand in our house. We used to decorate it with old ribbons and dried flowers.” Erwin fingers the ribbon in his hand and smiles at the thought. “It was a silly tradition, but it had been in our family for so long we couldn’t quite remember why it had been that way at all.”

“We didn’t even know what trees were down there.” Levi says softly.

Erwin sets the box down between his legs on the bed. He nods.

“Or snow.”

Erwin looks over at Levi, his lips thinning and face growing soft with concern.

“I had nothing for so long, I almost forgot what food was supposed to taste like.” Levi scoffs a laugh under his breath, the blanket falling back along his head as he catches eyes with Erwin. “I don’t like hand-outs, Erwin.”

“They’re gifts.”

“Same thing.”

“I suppose you are not wrong.” Erwin picks up his box again and rotates it in his hand. “You are appreciated, and people wish to show you that.”

“I kill titans.” Levi sways to the side in his chair and averts his gaze to the window. “I’m not special.”

Another gust of wind rattles the window, and it sighs like the air from Erwin’s chest. “We all die.”

Levi hums.

“We all try to find something to live for. Sometimes it’s an idea. Sometimes it’s a thing. Sometimes…” Erwin pulls at the end of the ribbon on the box, and it unravels into his open palm. “It’s a person.” Levi turns his attention to Erwin from the corner of his eye. “Those gifts are for somebody they believe in. Somebody that gives them hope. You give them more than the fear they are used to living in.” He peels back the paper, the russling tear of it clenching something deep in Levi’s stomach. “You are special.”

Levi squeezes his arms around his legs before he deflates the air from his lungs. His legs peak out from the bottom of the blanket and rest on the floor, shins as bare as his feet. He stands, the blanket enveloping him like their cloaks, and he takes the couple of steps and stands before Erwin. Opening his arms, he reveals the long white shirt that belongs to the man that shares his wardrobe, a habit he has fallen into that neither of them speak of. He wraps his arms around Erwin’s shoulders, lifts one leg up to land on one side of Erwin, and brings the other up to allow his rear to rest on the end of Erwin’s knees. His dense weight drags Erwin forward, and Levi kisses him once before looking down at the box in Erwin’s hand. “So what shit did you get me this year?”

Erwin searches Levi’s face with careful consideration. He blinks a couple of times to break the spell that his captain seems to so frequently cast on him when they are alone. “It’s nothing special.”

“Shut up and show me.” Levi runs his nails against Erwin’s nape, and he dares to share the affection on his voice like a note that’s so hard to play. He kisses him again, and a smile starts to stick to his lips.

Erwin lifts the lid on the small box, revealing a small burlap sack inside. Levi raises an eyebrow and looks up at Erwin. The commander pulls it out and unties the pouch and shifts it open in his palm. Levi squints down at the contents, confusion plastered on his features. “Sugar.” Erwin says. He takes a finger and dips it into the bag and brings it up to Levi’s lips. “It’s rare.”

“I know that.” Levi looks down his nose at Erwin’s finger, then back up into his eyes. “How the fuck…”

Erwin presses his finger to Levi’s lips, the sugar pebbling from his bottom lip and onto Erwin’s lap. Levi plays along, sticks the tip of his tongue out and sucks up the small amount of sweetness from him. “I have connections.” Erwin breathes out, his neck glowing a brilliant red as he presses his thumb into Levi’s chin and leans in to kiss the taste from Levi. “You are special to me, Levi.”

Levi takes his time to study Erwin back, his fingers working against the bareskin of Erwin’s sides. He sighs before succumbing to his emotions and bowing forward, his forehead touching to the heat of Erwin’s neck. “I don’t want anything.” He mutters. “We’re gonna donate all that stuff.”

“We can do that.”

“There’s people in the walls… In the underground. They deserve it more.”

“I will have Moblit arrange something in the morning.” Erwin returns the satchel and places the box next to them on the bed. He adjusts his position slightly, and Levi melts into him more, his arms wrapping around Erwin’s waist and pulling their bodies together.

“I… Already have what I want.” Levi says quietly, almost a whisper.

Erwin places his chin on top of Levi’s head and closes his eyes. His cold fingers move up to Levi’s sides, brings him closer so he shudders under Levi’s heat. Four years brought them so immeasurably close. Four years and Erwin couldn’t remember a time when the smell of tea wasn’t steeped into his clothes. A small man with a big heart that filled a hole in his own he hadn’t known had been there.

Erwin shifts and presses his cheek to the crown of Levi’s head. He pulls his arms in toward his chest and drags his captain in with it. Erwin returns the soft affection, the rumble of his voice barely breaking past his chest. “Me too.”


End file.
